NEW YORK — The Rangers placed Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve on Saturday, meaning the star goalie will miss at least three games with a right leg injury.
So Alexandar Georgiev, who finished a shutout victory on Friday, was thrown right back in the fire against the Blackhawks on Saturday night.
Georgiev was up to the task, making 25 saves as the Rangers won, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden for their sixth win in a row and 10th of 11.
Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome each had a goal and two assists. Adam Fox scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as the Rangers won their eighth home game in a row.
Georgiev’s biggest save came when he used his head — literally. He stopped Kirby Dach with his noggin late in the second period to protect a 2-1 lead.
Patrick Kane gave Chicago a 1-0 lead with 23 seconds left in the first when he poked in a puck in front of the net.
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant challenged the goal, saying Kane had received the puck after it was hit by the too-high stick of Brandon Hagel. But the officials disagreed after a brief review and the goal stood.
The Rangers were guilty of sleepwalking through the first period as they were outshot 7-5.
They picked it up in the second period, which was played mostly in front of Blackhawks backup goaltender Kevin Lankinen (28 saves), who gave Marc-Andre Fleury a night off.
Strome tied it on the power play at 4:41 when he received a pass from Panarin — who everyone on the Blackhawks expected to shoot — and found the net open.
The Rangers kept the pressure on and Fox scored the go-ahead goal with a rebound of a Panarin shot at 17:25. Fox has a six-game point streak (one goal, eight assists).
Strome and Panarin teamed up again to make it 3-1 with 5:14 left in the third. Panarin fed a cross-ice pass to Strome, who initially couldn’t get off a shot but instead passed it back to Panarin, who banged home his seventh goal of the season to give the Rangers some breathing room.
It was Panarin’s 499th career point.
With Lankinen off and 1:19 left in the third, Alex DeBrincat was credited with an unassisted goal via video replay as the puck trickled behind Georgiev.
Shesterkin left Friday’s 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden in the third period unable to put any pressure on his right leg. Shesterkin has been their best player this season and one of the best goaltenders in the league.
With the Rangers in a stretch of eight games in 13 days, the earliest Shesterkin can return is Friday. Will he?
Who knows?" Gallant said. "But we feel real comfortable he'lll be ready to go in a week."
It’s a chance for Georgiev to turn around what has so far been a lost season.
"I’m sure he feels that way," Gallant said. "For me, I'm confident in the kid. Shesterkin’s played unbelievable hockey for the first 20-some games and Georgie hadn't had a whole lot of chances, but, again, I'm confident with him going in the net."
With top goalie Keith Kinkaid on the COVID-19 list at Hartford (AHL), the Rangers instead called up his backup, Adam Huska.
Georgiev had struggled this season, bringing a 3.89 goals-against average and an .867 save percentage into Saturday’s game. And as Shesterkin played better and better — and more and more — things seemed to get worse for Georgiev. He had started just five games this season prior to Saturday, and he was pulled after allowing four goals in two periods in his last start, Nov. 21 against Buffalo.
But coming in cold Friday, Georgiev played well to finish a 1-0 victory over San Jose. He made nine saves, including a big one while the Rangers were killing a penalty to K’Andre Miller that prompted the Garden fans to chant, "Georgie! Georgie!’’
That type of performance could be a springboard for Georgiev to turn his season around, and prove to his coach, his teammates, and himself that he can help the Rangers this season.
The Rangers’ next game is a rematch on Tuesday in Chicago. The Blackhawks first visit the struggling Islanders on Sunday.
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With Colin Stephenson
